The Federal Government has been admonished to stop neglecting the Gashaka Gumpti Games reserves located in Taraba State.

Making the call, Taraba state’s former Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Emmanuel Bello, said the game reserves remains the largest in West Africa. Bello also described it as a lost treasure. He said, “after the capture of Sambisa forest, one of the things the Federal Government must ask itself is how that forest became a breeding ground for the type of atrocity that reportedly went on there.

Ordinarily, Sambisa should have been a paradise on earth with its potential for tourism and scientific research. Today, the name, Sambisa, may forever be associated with negativity. I call on the federal government to be proactive about tourism. We may never know, but if that Sambisa forest was put to good use, who knows maybe we would have been spared all the horrors. Please, let this not become the fate of another potential paradise called Gashaka-Gumpti.”

Bello, who is currently the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Darius Ishaku on Public Affairs, said Gashaka Gumpti must not be allowed to waste. Noting that the Taraba state government has done its part, Bello enjoined the federal government to shift its focus on the tourism industry in the state.

He said, “the governor is working hard to ensure there is peace in Taraba. Peace is very strategic for tourism. Governor Ishaku has also opened up the air space so that people can easily enter the state. Until he came, there were no commercial air services to Taraba.

But now we have flights three times each week. The state is getting more roads now too. In fact, the state capital Jalingo, to Gashaka Gumpti is no longer far because we have fixed the roads. What remains is for the federal government to do its part.

The game reserve is the biggest in West Africa (bigger than Yankari games reserves) and has some of the rarest species on the continent. It is a veritable setting for any reality shows for television like the Gulder Ultimate Search or such episodes based on challenging and adventurous terrains. It is also a major field research center for biologists and other scientists. If the federal government is serious about tourism, they must take this facility into account.”

The games reserve is the biggest in West Africa (bigger than Yankari games reserves) and has some of the rarest species on the continent. It is a veritable setting for any reality shows for television like the Gulder Ultimate Search or such episodes based on challenging and adventurous terrains. It is also a major field research center for biologists and other scientists. If the federal government is serious about tourism, they must take this facility into account.”

Gashaka Gumpti, located in Taraba, falls under the purview of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC).